La La Anthony Stands By Her Nail Art

People love La La Anthony. They don't just like-love her, they looove her. Within an hour of Instagramming this photo, my phone blew up with texts from friends who were dying to know if she's as sweet and cool as they imagined.

You see, with La La, there's something for everyone. If you watched MTV's "Total Request Live," you probably remember her as VJ La La Vazquez. (Her voice was hard to forget.) If you're a fan of reality television, you know her from "La La's Full Court Life," or as a friend of the Kardashians. And if you're a sports buff, you've seen her courtside cheering on her Knicks superstar husband, Carmelo Anthony.

People also adore her push-the-envelope fashion sense (think bold prints, neon accessories, and teetering heels), which is why Caress tapped her to be their "Fabulista," sharing style tips through their Facebook page for the rest of the year. (The brand is also hosting daily fashion and beauty giveaways -- La La-approved, of course.)

When I sat down with Anthony recently, we started chatting about fragrance. She doesn't change her scent for the season: "I'm the kind of girl where if something works, I stick to it," she said. But she does think you should go easy on the perfume in the summer: "Less is more -- you want to smell fresh and light. Don't go overboard."

But the longer we talked, the more I found myself staring at Anthony's long, green and blue cheetah-printed nails. The conversation quickly turned to nail art -- clearly, one of her biggest obsessions. We recently dissed crazy, over-the-top nail art, but La La is solidly in the "nail art is here to stay -- the crazier, the better" camp. And we love her for it.

"I'm a nail fanatic," she admitted. "Anyone who knows me knows that. And I'm always getting nail art unless I'm doing a movie." She had to have bare nails while shooting "Think Link a Man Too," but the nail salon was her first stop after filming wrapped.

One look at La La's Instagram account confirms her nail art obsession. "For Bob Marley's birthday, my nail artist in New York, Naomi, painted Bob Marley on my nails," she says. "And after I Instagrammed it, I got a message from his daughter thanking me for paying homage to him."

And it's not just her Instagram followers who comment on her manicures -- her family gets in on the action, too. "If it's basketball season, I might do something fun with Knicks colors," she says. "Or if it's our anniversary, I'll do hearts. And I've gotten my son involved, too. About two months ago, I had Elmo on my nails. It might seem crazy, but I have a six year old and he wanted Elmo on my nails."

Anthony doesn't think the nail art trend is going anywhere anytime soon. In fact, she thinks it's just getting started. "Mixing prints is in," she says as she holds up her cheetah nails to her floral dress. "And I'm encouraging women to try things like this -- it's fun." If anyone can singlehandedly keep the trend going, it's La La -- and her Instagram account.